NOW that the Nationwide sponsorship of the Football League has finished, can we keep the Third Division play-off trophy for ever?

NOW that the Nationwide sponsorship of the Football League has finished, can we keep the Third Division play-off trophy for ever? Chris, Huddersfield; Dylan and Anna Wood, Huddersfield

Jacko says: I CERTAINLY hope so!

It was one of the first things which crossed my mind when we knew that Coca-Cola would be taking over from Nationwide for this coming season.

In the past, it's obviously a piece of silverware which has been handed back every year for the play-off teams to compete for.

I would assume, though, that Coca-Cola will have their own trophies for next season so maybe we can keep this one.

I can't see Nationwide wanting it back, although the League might want it for their museum.

It would be nice, though, if we could keep it as the last Third Division side to win at the Millennium Stadium.

It would also serve as a fantastic reminder of a great occasion in Cardiff and of our fantastic achievement last season.

We put in a tremendous amount of hard work over the whole season to win that trophy - it wasn't just down to the excitement against Lincoln in the semis and the penalty shoot-out against Mansfield in the final.

What pleases me is that we have carried the momentum through pre-season and we are now strong and fit and ready to go against Stockport in a new campaign.

Our build-up has been excellent and we are all looking forward to what we hope will be another wonderful season for us.

Everyone knew that if we got promoted we could look forward to a fixture-list packed full of derbies - and with drawing Leeds United in the Carling Cup we've more or less got the full set!

That has to be good for the team, the fans and the finances and we really are looking forward to every single game.

DO you feel the club have missed out by having no home friendly, especially against Blackburn when the fans could have said a proper goodbye to Jonathan Stead? Andy Foody, Marsh

Jacko says: WE were planning all along to play Blackburn here at the stadium, but we got let down by them at the last minute.

It was our intention to work around the Blue concert and bring Steady back here as the final part of our preparations, but something cropped up at their end and we couldn't cement the arrangements.

We were left with little alternative but to inquire around the League for other possible opposition.

Macclesfield replied as did a club from down south, but I didn't want the squad taking on the travelling.

One further problem with the big pre-season games is the cost of policing. The plug was almost pulled on the Sunderland game last season because of that, so it is a big consideration.

We have, of course, played a top flight side in Middlesbrough, we've beaten a Championship side in Rotherham and also won away at a tough League II club in Macclesfield, so I'm happy with our build-up.

WILL there be any more signings as we get into the season proper? Paul the Terrier, Leeds Road; G Brown, Holmfirth.

Jacko says: Even though I've got only 22 in the squad at the moment compared with 26 last time, I think my squad is stronger.

Some of the lads last season were very much fringe players on short-term contracts who we needed to take a look at, whereas this time we've only one pro without any first-team experience (Joe Walsh).

I've brought in a couple of signings in Junior Mendes and Chris Brandon, but I have held back some budget to make sure I've got the leeway to make further signings in September time, October, whenever they might be needed.

Ken Davy has backed me fully on that, and the extra funds are there should they be necessary.

It is important to have that fall-back because if we were to be hit by the same silly suspensions and injuries which affected us last time, it would stretch us once again. It would have been easy to have blown the budget already on another two or three players, but I was always determined to keep some back.

WERE there any signings you tried to make in the summer which didn't come off and how far do you think we can progress this time? Ray, e-mail

Jacko says: THE only player I was interested in who we didn't end up signing was Leigh Bromby from Sheffield Wednesday.

He is a good centre-back, only 24 years of age, and the only reason we missed out was because he decided to sign for Sheffield United in the higher division.

As for how far we can go - we can go a long way if we continue to work hard and run the club on the right lines.

We've had success in our first year and are probably ahead of schedule, even though it was important to get out of the bottom division as quickly as we possibly could.

It was an incredible feat by the players in particular, the staff, management and fans to achieve that and now we want to build on it.

This will not be an easy division and it's important we make a good start, but if we are up there in the challenging area by Christmas, we will have another push for promotion.

It's important we steer clear of silly suspensions and injuries, but I've always said that if we play to our full potential, with the workrate and the quality football we can produce, we can beat anyone on our day.

We have to keep making the Galpharm Stadium a fortress - we cannot afford to lose too many games at home and, last season, our record here was tremendous - and we have to make sure that teams are scared stiff of coming here.

I've every faith in the lads that they can do that and, after our improvement of last year, I'm sure we'll continue to pick up points away from home.

HOW closely did you look at signing Rachubka and is there any possibility he could sign for us? David, e-mail; Anne, Golcar; Ken, Honley

Jacko says: I HAVE kept in touch with Paul, but there is no chance of him coming to us.

I am perfectly happy with Ian Gray and Phil Senior and that is the end of it. Had Ian not made a recovery from his hand injury, then I would have looked to bring Rabs in, but that's not how it worked out.

IS it a concern that we may not have a proven 20-goals a season scorer? James Vasey, Huddersfield; D Barnett, Blackpool

Jacko says: WE have got plenty of people who can scored their share of goals and we are not relying on one person to go `big.'

I've got high hopes that Junior Mendes will use his pace to good effect and that Abbott, McAliskey and Booth will all look to improve on what they did last season.

We've also got attacking midfielders who can score (like Carss and Schofield) and defenders who can cause mayhem at set-pieces, so I'm not worried at all.

A personal message

Jacko says: TO end this first column of the new season, can I thank every single person who has sent their congratulations to myself and the lads since our promotion in Cardiff.

I have been inundated with cards, letters and faxes and it's impossible to reply in person to them all.

The support we have had over the past 12 months has been fantastic, it took a tremendous effort by everone concerned to turn the club around and my message to the fans is once again: Keep the Faith!